Fails the Bechdel test

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Name: Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Released: 2003

2003. Directed by Peter Weir, written by Patrick O'Brian and Peter Weir and John Collee.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

0 / 3

Fails

No 1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters.
No 2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.

Poster for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

The film

In April 1805 during the Napoleonic Wars, H.M.S. Surprise, a British frigate, is under the command of Captain Jack Aubrey. Aubrey and the Surprise's current orders are to track and capture or destroy a French privateer named Acheron. The Acheron is currently in the Atlantic off South America headed toward the Pacific in order to extend Napoleon's reach of the wars. This task will be a difficult one as Aubrey quickly learns in an initial battle with the Acheron that it is a bigger and faster ship than the Surprise, which puts the Surprise at a disadvantage. Aubrey's single-mindedness in this seemingly impossible pursuit puts him at odds with the Surprise's doctor and naturalist, Stephen Maturin, who is also Aubrey's most trusted advisor on board and closest friend. Facing other internal obstacles which have resulted in what they consider a string of bad luck, Aubrey ultimately uses Maturin's scientific exploits to figure out a way to achieve his and the ship's seemingly impossible goal.

Released: 14 Nov 2003
Genres: Action, Adventure, Drama
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.5 / 10
Metascore: 81 / 100
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. 23 wins & 90 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Jack 213 lines, man
Stephen 124 lines, man
Blakeney 55 lines, man
Calamy 36 lines, man
Pullings 30 lines, man
Mowett 24 lines, man
Hollom 21 lines, man
Killick 17 lines, man
Allen 16 lines, man
Hollar 14 lines, man

Full cast, 26 people

Russell Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey
Paul Bettany as Dr. Stephen Maturin
James D'Arcy as 1st Lt. Thomas Pullings
Robert Pugh as Mr. Allen, Master
David Threlfall as Preserved Killick, Captain's Steward
Lee Ingleby as Midshipman Hollom
Max Pirkis as Midshipman Blakeney
Max Benitz as Midshipman Calamy
Billy Boyd as Barrent Bonden, Coxswain
Edward Woodall as 2nd Lt. William Mowett
Chris Larkin as Captain Howard, Royal Marines
George Innes as Joe Plaice, Able Seaman
Richard McCabe as Mr. Higgins, Surgeon's Mate
Mark Lewis Jones as Mr. Hogg, Whaler
Jack Randall as Midshipman Boyle
Richard Pates as Midshipman Williamson
Ian Mercer as Mr. Hollar, Boatswain
Tony Dolan as Mr. Lamb, Carpenter
Bryan Dick as Joseph Nagle, Carpenter's Mate
Joseph Morgan as William Warley, Cpt. of Mizzentop
William Mannering as Faster Doudle, Able Seaman
Patrick Gallagher as Awkward Davies, Able Seaman
Alex Palmer as Nehemiah Slade, Able Seaman
John DeSantis as Padeen, Loblolly Boy
Ousmane Thiam as Black Bill, Killick's Mate
Thierry Segall as French Captain

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 176

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers

Scenes	Women's lines	Men's lines
1 to 4	0	1
5 to 8	0	6
9 to 12	0	1
13 to 16	0	14
17 to 20	0	58
21 to 24	0	35
25 to 28	0	9
29 to 32	0	2
33 to 36	0	2
37 to 40	0	16
41 to 44	0	8
45 to 48	0	2
49 to 52	0	13
53 to 56	0	11
57 to 60	0	5
61 to 64	0	27
65 to 68	0	32
69 to 72	0	9
73 to 76	0	9
77 to 80	0	14
81 to 84	0	21
85 to 88	0	15
89 to 92	0	12
93 to 96	0	22
97 to 100	0	21
101 to 104	0	20
105 to 108	0	8
109 to 112	0	11
113 to 116	0	14
117 to 120	0	14
121 to 124	0	50
125 to 128	0	11
129 to 132	0	12
133 to 136	0	10
137 to 140	0	7
141 to 144	0	27
145 to 148	0	2
149 to 152	0	13
153 to 156	0	17
157 to 160	0	12
161 to 164	0	23
165 to 168	0	15
169 to 172	0	5
173 to 176	0	11

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 0 are women's.

0 lines from women, 647 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

0 women and 22 men in the cast. 0 women and 25 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

No woman speaks. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 675 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 0% of the words (0), men 100% (7,280).

Exhibit D: the test the other way

Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

3 of the 16 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Peter Weir (man)
Written by: Peter Weir (man), John Collee (man)
From the novel by: Patrick O'Brian (man)
Produced by: Samuel Goldwyn Jr. (man), Duncan Henderson (man), Peter Weir (man)
Shot by: Russell Boyd (man)
Edited by: Lee Smith (man)
Music by: Iva Davies (man), Richard Tognetti (gender not listed), Christopher Gordon (man)
Production design by: William Sandell (man)
Costumes by: Wendy Stites (woman)
Cast by: Mary Selway (woman), Fiona Weir (woman)